Are We Insane?
Have you ever given thought to how life would be if far-right Christians got their way and created a theocracy in America? Our republic ruled by their interpretation of the Bible? If you have never read the Bible, you might think, what could be wrong with that? A government, run by the "good book," might be the solution we've been searching for. Okay, fair enough.
However, if you have read the Bible, actually read it, and not just highlighted certain verses on Sundays in church, you should immediately realize that a Bible-based theocracy would make life in America the most oppressive imaginable. And not even Christians, except those in power, would be exempt from its tyranny.
Electing and reelecting Moral Majority, Tea Party, Christian Nationalists, and other right-wing extremists, and yes, they are extremists; as America has done over the last thirty years, has not only divided us, but has eroded our civility and significantly diminished our quality of life. From the Office of the President to the offices of our local city mayors, partisanship and party politics have divided our federal, state, and local governments, and given us ineffective leadership. Yet, despite that, we repeatedly reelect or elect the same or similar representatives!
Election cycle after election cycle, our habit of reelecting the same or similar people and expecting different results, has pushed our republic precariously closer to its social destruction. Are we insane?
In his last book, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, published in 1995, Carl Sagan, astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrobiologist, author, and all-around smart guy, predicted an America much like America today:
"I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time—when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness."
And by dividing us with disinformation, misinformation, conspiracy theories, fear, and injustice, it is into superstition and darkness that those intent on creating a Bible-based theocracy in America are trying to lead us. And many, indoctrinated and conditioned through faith to accept a theocratic understanding of the Bible, manipulated to satisfy a Christian nationalist agenda, blindly follow.
What will it take for us to regain our democratic values? The rights they entail, our sense of justice and fair play, and yes, our sanity?
Perhaps we should examine those countries that are theocracies. Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Israel, and others. Is what they have what we want for ourselves?
Maybe you're thinking, well, those countries aren't Christian. So an American theocracy, being Christian, might be better. And I can understand why, as an American, you might think that way. However, because religious beliefs are subjective, I wholeheartedly encourage you to think again!
The truth about God is no one knows the truth about God. Therefore, all beliefs about God are concepts and nothing more than pure speculation. This means that whatever we believe about God is open to interpretation. God, then, can be whatever we want God to be. The same is true for a Christian theocracy. Whatever those in control want it to be, it will be. And it doesn't have to be based on any version of the Bible that we might be familiar with. Theocracies are not about God; they are about control!
Am I worried? Yes. The recent Supreme Court leak about the overturning of Roe vs. Wade certainly has given me cause for concern.
But despite the alleged leanings of an out-of-touch court, I doubt that most Americans would welcome a theocracy. However, that we might end up that way, because of our complacency, is another matter.
As for me, other than the sun becoming a red giant and burning up the Earth in my lifetime, when I consider the prospect of America becoming a theocracy, there is nothing else I find less desirable. But I would feel much more confident that it wouldn't happen if I was sure most Americans felt the same way, and were ready and willing to take a stand to prevent it!
We'd like to know your thoughts on the matter. Take a moment. And let us know what you think, in the comments section.